Improved bottle-stopper



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HOVARD BUSBY FOX, OF OXTON, ENGLAND.

IMPROVED BOTTLE-STOPPER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 55,438, dated June 5, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HOWARD BUsBv For., of OXton,in the county of Ghester,in that part of I'Ier Britannie Majestys dominions called England, gentleman, have invented a certain new and usef'ul Improvement in Closing the Months of Certain Bottles and Vessels; and I do hereby declare that the following` is a full and exact description of the construction and use thereof, reference being had to the accompanying sheet of drawings and to the gures and letters of reference thereon-that is to say The bottles or vessels to be closed according to my invention are those which have a screw or helical thread formed on or attached to the outer surfaces of their necks or fillingopenings. They (the said bottles and vessels) can be made of glass, carthenware, metal, or other material, of the ordinary shapes, and be used for containing liquids of almost every kind. Among the bottles may be mentioned those for containing wine, ale, cider, aerated and other waters, and among the vessels those known as drums, tins, and casks7 for containing oils and paints.

I will rst describe what I consider the best means of carrying out my invention, and will afterward designate the points which I believe to be new.

For closing the mouth of a bottle or vessel of the kind above described I employ a cap, made of metal, wood, or other rigid material, lined with cork, india-rubber, or other flexible substance or material of a character suitable for the liquid to be placed in the bottle or vessel. The eXible lining, when a few turns are given to a cap over the neck of a bottle or vessel, yields and accommodates itself to the form thereof, and provides the following (among other) advantages: Perfect and permanent closing of the bottle or vessel, with less breakage than under the present system of forcing corksinto bottles, convenience in opening the said bottles or vessels without a corkscrew, a tight fit of the cap to the bottle or vessel along the threads as well as at the edge or rim of the neck, and economy, for the same cap and its elastic lining may be used many times.

A portion of my invention relates to preparing the lower edge or rim ofjiaemetallic portion of hee/ilwtlteeth, to facilitate its bend- Ig/ inward upon and into the lower edge of the softlining. The extension of the soft lining downward within the cap affords the advantages above enumerated, while the serrated or pcctinated edge of the metallic portion of the cap allows it to be very Iirmly coniined, not only to prevent the escape of the said soft material, but also to prevent its turning therein.

The sheet of drawings contains illustrations of parts of bottles, and ofa vessel constructed as hereinbefore mentioned, and ofthe means for closing the same, all of which latter are made of tinned iron lined with cork. These sub. stances I have found to answer well.

Fignrel is a side elevation of part of the neck of a glass bottle with about two turns of a thread o1' screw, a, thereon. Such a form is suitable for wine or ale.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a cylindrical cap, b, adapted for Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a' vertical section of Fig. 2, showing the cork fitted in in the manner which I have found most convenient. c is the top block, with convex bearing-surface to enter the mouth of the bottle or vessel, and d the circumference-lining, left smooth ou the surface, which, when in use, is in contact with the screw or thread. It will be observed c is of the same diameter as the inside of the cap, and d abuts against c.

Fig. 4 shows the onerfoldedand p ectinated edge cLIhere are several advantages in notching the edge. 1t allows the part to be readily folded over. It prevents the cap from leaving the side cork lining and prevents the cap from turning round on or without the said linin 0'.

In these views like letters denote the same parts.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section of part of a glass -bottle with a screw or helical thread thereon ot' increasing pitch, covered by a hexagonal cap lined with solid cork.

Fig. 6 is a side elevation, and Fig. 7 an under-side view, of the said cap. f denotes the bottle; g, the hexagonal cap with overfolded edge, and 7L the cork. The piece of cork removed to form the recess which passes over the mouth or neck of the bottle or vessel could be cut out solid or bored out by the means in general use among cork-manufacturers.

Fig. S shows a side elevation,Fig. 9 a vertical section, and Fig. 10 an under-side view, of

a cylindrical cap, c', with milled edge to bind the said cap and the cork lining together. j is the cireumference-lining. It passes from top to bottom of the cap, with female screw formed on its bearing-surface. 7c is a disk-like top piece.

Fig. ll is a vertical section of a metallic drum, l, with screwed filling-opening m, closed by a cap, n, lined, as in Fig. 3, with cork o.

In the modifications of myinvention shown and described, as in all others, (and theforms and relative proportions might be variously altered,) shellac or other adhesive substance or substances might be used between the cap and its lining for the double purpose of securing the latter to the former and thoroughly closingup all the pores or openings in that surface ofthe lining` next to the cap.

In constructing caps, under my invention, of metal, stamps and dies of the ordinary kind can be employed if made of wood, they could be turned; and if of glass, earthenware, or ebonite, they could be cast in molds, and so with other materials.

In closing a bottle or vessel it is only necessary to give the cap a number' of turns equivalent to the number of screwthreads thereon.

Having now fully and exactly described my said invention and shown details thereof by the drawings, I would have it clearly understood that I do not claim the rigid cap, perse, nor the same when partly lined with a flexible material.

What I do claim is,- l. The within-described soft-lined cap b c d, adapted to close the mouths of bottles or vessels, having a screw-thread formed on thev Ain specified.

Signed and sealed by the said HOWARD BUSBYv FOX, at Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster, England, this 12th day of January, A. D. i866.

HOWARD BUsY Fox.

Before us- JOHN l?. KING,

Patent Agent, Liverpool. J oHN DAvIEs, His Clerk. 

